# Minor's Name Released in Violent Crime?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 5, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308 "2008-02-05T00:49:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308/1 "2008-02-05T00:49:11Z")
How can the press release the name of a minor (almost age 16) who killed his entire family? Here is a link to the details whicb may help to clarify the situation.[http://www.wjz.com/](http://www.wjz.com/) Is it because he turned himself, perhaps?
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308/2 "2008-02-05T00:59:53Z")
Googling around shows that he’s being charged and held in a district court, not the juvenile court system (although his attorney apprently suggests he may petition to transfer the case to juvenile court.)
If he’s being charged as an adult, his name and other details are public information.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308/3 "2008-02-05T01:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou]
Googling around shows that he’s being charged and held in a district court, not the juvenile court system (although his attorney apprently suggests he may petition to transfer the case to juvenile court.)
If he’s being charged as an adult, his name and other details are public information.
[/QUOTE]
Ah-ha! I see!
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308/4 "2008-02-05T01:35:38Z")
It’s not illegal for the press to reveal a minor’s name in a crime. It may be against the rules for a court to release it, but if the press obtains it legally, it’s not illegal to print.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308/5 "2008-02-05T02:01:09Z")
Also, the press will abandon its policies to, say, not reveal the names of rape victims when they have been revealed through other means, like abducted and molested children having their names made public by their families. Generally the news story will include a note to that respect: “While it is not this newspaper’s policy to name rape victims, in this case…”
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### Author:  [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-name-released-in-violent-crime/436308/6 "2008-02-05T02:07:53Z")
[QUOTE=Garfield226]
It’s not illegal for the press to reveal a minor’s name in a crime. It may be against the rules for a court to release it, but if the press obtains it legally, it’s not illegal to print.
[/QUOTE]
That may be true in the US, but it’s certainly not true in Canada. There are cases where a minor’s name can be released by the court and published in the media, but if those conditions aren’t met, the media is not allowed to publish any identifying information about the accused no matter how the media obtained the information.